Kreider 2nd at Leagues

Dom Oliveri thought he had a good round of golf in him but it just hadn't happened.

In league matches this season, parts of his game were fine but nothing quite came together.

Until Monday.

Oliveri, a senior at Conestoga Valley, shot a 2-under 70 to win the boys' individual title at the Lancaster-Lebanon League championships at Tanglewood Manor Golf Club.

"Before the match, I thought, maybe today will be the day," he said.

Oliveri finished a stroke ahead of Ephrata's Matt Kreider and Manheim Township's Jacob Macinanti.

Manheim Township's Addy Deery won the girls' title for the second straight year. Deery defeated Lancaster Mennonite's Grace Stillman on the second sudden death playoff hole. Both shot 7-over 79s for 18 holes, forcing the playoff.

Manheim Township claimed the team title for the fifth straight year and ninth out of the last 10. With the top four individual scores making up the team score, the Blue Streaks' 292 was 19 strokes ahead of second place Conestoga Valley.

Township's top team score gives the Streaks a berth in the District Three Class AAA team championship match, scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 6 at Briarwood Golf Course in York. Township is the defending district AAA champs.

Being the top AA team from the L-L League championships, Lancaster Catholic also earned a spot in the district AA team match at Briarwood. The Crusaders finished third in last year's district AA team championships.

Monday's league championships also qualified 19 AAA players and eight AA players for the District Three individual championships, scheduled for Oct. 9-10 at Briarwood East.

The qualifiers are Oliveri, Kreider, Macinanti, Pat Neslund (MT), Chris North (MT), Jack Marchant (MT), Tim Bomberger (CC), Trey Kuntz (MT), Sam Beauregard (MT), Ethan Cairns (Sol.), Brady Erb (PM), Nate Brown (PM), Owen Miller (CV), Cory Peck (Hemp.), Evan Dissinger (CC), Coldy Tobias (Elco), Peter Chieppor (MT), Noel Veitch (CV) and Walker Kirk (MT).

Class AA qualifiers are Tom Moran (LC), RJ VanTash (LC), Thomas Bird (LC), Sean McNamara (LC), Will Riva (LC) and Collin Green (LM).

Eight girls from the L-L League qualified for the District Three girls' individual championships, set for Oct. 9-10 at Briarwood West.

Those girls are Deery, Stillman, Lauren Bird (LC), Allison Appleton (PM), Ellen Wager (MT), Lauren Moyer (Eph.), Erica Corey (MT) and Kathryn Pelensky (War.).

Oliveri (35-35_70) opened his round with a birdie on the third hole, his first in the shotgun start, and stayed out of trouble most of the rest of the way.

When there was a bit of trouble, he got up and down. He hit fairways, 15 in his recollection, made two birdies and 16 pars.

Without a regular-season win in league competition, it was only natural to wonder whether he might falter down the stretch. But he talked himself into staying on task.

"I said to myself, this is where the money is made," he said. "But I was fairly relaxed. My playing partners (Pat Neslund, Evan Dissinger and Dan Fieger) were great and they helped ease the tension. They knew I was in contention and kept encouraging me."

The upcoming district tournament will be the first for Oliveri.

"I like bigger, more open courses, kind of like this one (Tanglewood)," he said. "So, yeah, I can't wait."

Kreider (35-36_71) had five birdies, including birdies on his final two holes, 17 and 18. On 18, he sank a 15-20-foot putt from the lower part of the two-tiered green.

Macinanti (37-34_71) had four birdies in his round.

Unlike Oliveri, Deery got off to a rough start then righted the ship. Starting on No. 10, she was 8-over after six holes. But she made par on her last three holes on the back and played the front nine in 1-under.

It was quite a turnaround. From 44 on the back to 35 on the front.

"My main thing is not to give up," she said. "I figured I wasn't going to win but I thought I could still play well for myself."

Stillman was more even-keeled through 18 with 39 on the back and 40 on the front. She drained a 25-foot putt on the first playoff hole just to get the playoff to a second hole.

While Stillman got to play in many of the Blazers' league matches, Deery, because of the Blue Streaks' boys depth, played in only two of Township's matches during the season.

She stays in golf shape by participating in practices with the guys.

"Practicing with the boys and watching how they manage to work their shots is a help and I try to learn from them," she said.

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